Sauerland-Herbst – International Brass Festival

A Region Becomes a Concert Stage

The Hochsauerlandkreis is one of the most wooded and highest-lying low mountain ranges in North Rhine-Westphalia. When the beech, oak, and larch trees change color in September, a different sound echoes through the valleys from Brilon to Schmallenberg, from Meschede to Warstein, from Olsberg to Arnsberg: muted trumpets, blaring trombones, round tuba tones, and bell-clear horns. For over a quarter of a century, the Sauerland-Herbst has been the region's grand brass festival – supported by the Hochsauerlandkreis itself, and primarily by its cultural and music school department.

World-Class Brass

Over four to five weeks, the program condenses the best the international brass scene has to offer. Over the years, Stockholm Chamber Brass, the Austrian Brass Consort, the Mnozil Brass circle, German Hornsound, the Folkwang Brass Ensemble, 10forBrass, Geneva Brass, and the Canadian stars of Canadian Brass have performed here repeatedly. English brass hero James Morrison also regularly returns for the closing concert at the Brilon Stadthalle. The atmosphere in the often small town halls, parish churches, and monastery rooms of the Sauerland is concentrated and intimate – brass music has a different effect here than in the large venues of the big cities.

The German-Open Competition

A regular highlight of recent festival editions is the German-Open Brass Band Competition at the Warsteiner Brewery World: up to eleven German and European brass bands compete against each other on one day, judged by top-class expert juries. Winning here qualifies you for the European Brass Band Championships – this is the brass Bundesliga.

Venues Across the District

The Sauerland-Herbst is consistently decentralized: concerts take place in the Konzerthalle Olsberg, the Stadthalle Meschede, the Stadthalle Brilon, the Abtei Königsmünster Meschede, the Schützenhalle Sundern, the Pfarrkirche Marsberg, the Hessenhalle Schmallenberg, at the Hennesee, and many other locations. A special feature of recent editions: the floating concert on the EMS Hennesee, the excursion boat on the Hennesee. Thus, the festival also becomes a journey through the Sauerland itself – each concert is an invitation to discover a new place in the region.

Workshops and School Projects

Behind the public concert program lies a second festival: workshops for brass players of all levels at the Südwestfalen Music Education Center in Schmallenberg-Bad Fredeburg, and six school projects in cooperation with schools and music associations in the region. In this way, the festival instills a love for brass in the next generations directly – an investment that has paid off in the Sauerland brass scene for years.

Discover the Hochsauerlandkreis

Anyone traveling for the Sauerland-Herbst should plan extra days for the region. Hikes around the Hennesee, the Möhnesee with its impressive dam, the historic old town of Brilon, the Grafschaft Monastery, the Wisent Reserve in the Wittgenstein region – the Sauerland is one of the most beautiful hiking areas in West Germany. In autumn, it becomes a postcard.